Meet the complete mouse -- whole mouse genome sequence published
Wednesday, May 27, 2009 - 05:07
in Biology & Nature
Are you a man or a mouse? A new paper, published in this week's issue of PLoS Biology, explores exactly what distinguishes our genome from that of the lab mouse. In the first comprehensive comparison between the genes of mice and humans, scientists from institutions across America, Sweden and the UK reveal that there are more genetic differences between the two species than had been previously thought. One-fifth of mouse genes are new copies that have emerged in the last 90 million years of mouse evolution. These large differences between genes in humans and the mouse are likely to reflect many of the differences that distinguish human and mouse biology.